Bridgeport to host NCAA women's tournament

Rich Elliott

Updated 12:55 am, Saturday, November 10, 2012

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference has again been awarded a regional site for the 2013 NCAA women's basketball tournament, the NCAA announced Friday. This time the NCAA has placed the site at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport March 30-April 1.

The MAAC was originally scheduled to host the regional in Trenton, N.J. However, the NCAA announced Oct. 15 that it was forced to remove the regional from the site due to a new New Jersey law that permits gambling on both college and professional games.

The conference quickly sided with Fairfield University and the city of Bridgeport to maintain hold of the regional. It will be the second straight year that Fairfield will be involved in hosting a segment of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in Bridgeport.

"Bridgeport has proven to be a great host for our championship in the past and we are excited to be making a return this March,'' said Carolayne Henry, chair of the Division I Women's Basketball Committee. "We appreciate both the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Fairfield University stepping forward to host because of this special circumstance.''

The Bridgeport Regional semifinal games are scheduled for March 30 at noon and 2:30 p.m. The regional final will held April 1 at 7:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Final Four in New Orleans April 7 and 9.

Fairfield last hosted a regional in Bridgeport in 2006. It has also hosted the first and second rounds of the NCAA women's basketball tournament in 2004, 2008 and 2012.

The first and second round games in 2012 drew crowds of 4,563 and 4,372 at the 9,000-seat Webster Bank Arena, respectively. Ticket packages for all three games of the subregional were $62 and $41 for single games at the arena box office. No discounts for senior citizens or youths were offered. And they were the highest priced tickets among any of the pre-Final Four rounds of the tournament.

The venue had not drawn less than 6,556.

"The move of the regional site to Bridgeport made sense for a number of reasons,'' MAAC commissioner Rich Ensor said. "Bridgeport and Webster Bank Arena have a long history of hosting NCAA championship events, while maintaining a regional host site on the East Coast is good for the championship.''

In a statement, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said, "We are extremely proud that the Park City will play host once once again to the NCAA tournament."

With Bridgeport being awarded the regional, No. 2 UConn's quest for an NCAA-record sixth straight trip to the Four Final will not leave Connecticut. The Huskies are hosting the first and second rounds of the tournament at Gampel Pavilion.

UConn previously reached the Final Four in 1995 and in 2004 after playing its first four games of the NCAA tournament in Connecticut.

"I think when Trenton lost it through no fault of their own I'm sure the NCAA was probably hopeful that somebody would step up,'' UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "And Bridgeport being a place that's had regionals and done it successfully, and they've had great crowds down there in the past years, I'm not surprised. And I think it makes all the sense in the world.''

HARTLEY OUT: Junior All-American Bria Hartley will not play in Sunday's season opener against the College of Charleston at Gampel Pavilion. She has missed nearly a month of practice due to a high grade sprain and a partial ligament tear in her left ankle.

Hartley was initially told by the UConn medical staff that she would miss anywhere from two to four games. She also will not play at No. 15 Texas A&M Nov. 18. Right now the target date for her return is Nov. 22 against Wake Forest at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands.